5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
God will judge sinners. Here he promises to judge, and to be a swift witness against sinners. The terms here are a little archaic and perhaps worth fleshing out a bit. Sorcerers are those who attempt to manipulate God or reality through divinations, incantations, magic, consulting with the dead, and even drugs (the Greek word for Sorcerer [LXX] is a derivative of φαρμακεια, from which we derive the English words… Pharmaceuticals, pharmacy, pharmacist, etc.) In the OT, the rites of pagan worship would also have been in sight, things like sacrificing children, cutting themselves (the prophets of Baal), and ritual intercourse (cult prostitution).
We have a tendency toward chronological snobbery, and when we hear about this stuff, we frequently think things like, “that was then, but not anymore, right?” Well, not so much. Drug abuse (speaking on abuse, i.e. addiction or slavery to drugs, not reasonable medicinal use) is rampant in America, even here in our county, just ask the policemen, or those who are actively trying to help the addicted. We ARE sacrificing children to the tune of 3,000 a day on the altars of the false gods Convenience and Whatever-Feels-Good. There ARE many who hurt themselves, because the emotional pain and distress of broken homes and communities and lives drives them to do something, just to know they are alive, or to cry out for help. And this isn’t even touching on the darkness of Wiccan neo-paganism, or the silliness of horoscopes and palm readers and psychics who still advertise their presence and wares today.
Adultery is more straightforward, but even here, extra-marital relations and divorce are rampant, and we are legalizing sin with the folly of homosexual marriage. Perjurers are liars, specifically those who lie on the witness stand in trial, but whoever bears false witness and hurts his neighbor is in view here. And there is no shortage of this going on today. The mere existence of organizations like the Homeschool Legal Defense Association or the Heritage Defense Fund betray the problem.
And the exploitation of wage earners and widows and orphans is a terrible evil, the one which ultimately brought on the exile of Israel. God loves the poor and the outcasts, and He comes to their defense. Wherever God is not honored, the weak are the ones who pay the penalty. America is a wealthy nation, and even the poor here tend to have it relatively better than the rest of the world, but as we turn away from God, and seek our own means of salvation, we institutionalize this kind of wickedness.
It is a lot harder to identify because of the confusing nature of sin, but it is evident in our society. The cost of living keeps going up and the ones who hurt most are those on limited incomes, the elderly, the jobless, and the lowest classes of society… wage earners, widows, and orphans.
Finally, as the verse says, this all happens because we do not fear God. Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and you may have noticed the theme on the covers of your bulletins, the theme of Rejoicing in the Incarnation. And since I bring it up, you might be wondering what that has to do with this verse. God will come near to us for judgment! He will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers and oppressors! What?!?! How can we rejoice in that?
God judges wickedness, but He saves His elect in the process. In Israel, a remnant was saved. In the first centuries after the resurrection, the church grew up in the persecutions of Rome. And all this is consistent with the next two verses…
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts.
God invites us to repent and to return, and this truly is indeed cause for rejoicing. God’s judgment is cause for rejoicing, because it is the means of His great reversal. He makes rough places smooth, and He paves the ways of salvation.
Christ Church of Livingston County 